COLLEGE NEWS SUMMER 2017

TALKING POINT
REMOTE AND RURAL MEDICINE CONFERENCE
In March 2017, the newly formed Glasgow University Remote and Rural Medicine Society
(GURRMS) ran the inaugural Remote and rural medicine conference on the isle of Islay.
GURRMS founders and conference organisers, Keenan Smith, Gregor Stark and Alistair Carr
give an overview of the conference below:
Six months prior to the
conference, we were sitting in
the Glasgow University Union
listening to Alistair explain his
plan. He’d just returned from
a five week GP placement on
Islay where his eyes had been
opened to the challenges and
excitement that lay in rural
general practice. Despite the
recruitment crisis facing general
practice everywhere, and rural
general practice in particular,
he was convinced that if other
students could experience what
he had, it would inspire them
too.
That evening, we formed the
Glasgow University Remote
and Rural Medicine Society
(GURRMS). Our founding goal
was to host a conference with
a real and lasting impact. With a
message that no delegate could
ignore: rural GP provides an
exciting and dynamic career that
should not be written off as a
sleepy backwater of a career.
We wanted to create something
that would change not just how
60 medical students thought,
but that would become a staple
of the undergraduate social and
educational calendar - changing
perceptions for years to come.
If we were going to make a
difference we had to show off
everything that rural practice
had to offer and that this meant
going to Islay. There were
many challenges to overcome
in organising the conference,
but despite any reservations
we may have had, our 60
delegate tickets sold out within
four and a half hours – clearly
demonstrating the demand
among medical students for
more exposure to rural practice.
On the day of the conference
every seat in the Gaelic College
was filled with eager students.
Most were from Scotland but
some had come from as far
away as Plymouth, Oxford and
Hull.
A spectacular view across Loch
Indaal was the backdrop to the
inaugural National Undergraduate
Remote and Rural Medicine
Conference. The morning
session started with a talk by
Dr Angus McTaggart defining
what rural medicine is and the
rewards it can offer, followed by
the Emergency Medical Retrieval
Service (EMRS) team talking
about their role and how they
interact with rural GPs and the
realities of pre-hospital care.
Subsequent sessions included
the benefits and challenges of
working in a rural environment,
presented by two retired
Islay GPs, a workshop around
how to act in a rural medical
emergency, led by Rural GP
Fellows Drs Jess Cooper and
Durga Sivasathiaseelan, and a
talk on rural surgery by Mr Stuart
Fergusson, Scottish Clinical
Leadership Fellow at the Royal
College of Physicians and
Surgeons of Glasgow.
Other issues explored were the
limitations of using guidelines
in a rural setting, presented by
the Chair of SIGN, Professor
John Kinsella, who made
the interesting comparison
of rural medicine to the ICU
environment, and how ‘realistic
medicine’ applies in a rural
context.
During the day students also had
the opportunity to talk with patients
who had volunteered to share their
experiences of rural healthcare.
The next day was used to
explore rural life and experience
the community of Islay. This
included enjoying the scenery
and hospitality of the island, and
the option of participating in
a joint Royal National Lifeboat
Institution and coastguard
training exercise which involved
three of the students being
winched out of the sea.
The informal feedback we
have had thus far has been
overwhelmingly positive: certainly
more than one rural elective is
being sought after last weekend.
A recurring theme has been how
impressed students were by the
strength of the island’s community
and the generosity of the locals.
Formal feedback is in the process
of being collected and will be
made available in due course.
The 2017-18 GURRMS committee
has now been elected and have
exciting plans for the future.
Watch this space!
Follow @GURRMS on Twitter ■
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College News SUMMER 2017
www.rcpsg.ac.uk